Sticking to the Script

by: Dan Weil
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Many coaches believe in the philosophy of scripting your first 10-15 offensive plays of the game and a few less than that for the second half. The idea is to make it easier for your players to have early success and to learn how the defense will react to some of your core plays.

    We talked to three coaches for their philosophies about scripted plays and for information about the kind of plays they actually put into their scripts. The coaches are Tommy Condell, OC of the CFL’s Saskatchewan Rough Riders and formerly a coach at several U.S. colleges, including offensive coordinator at University of Louisiana-Monroe; Kenny Edenfield, offensive coordinator at University of North Alabama; and Steve Specht, head coach at St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati.

Steve Specht
    Specht scripts the first 10 plays of the game and the first five plays of the second half. As for the beginning of the game, Specht sees four purposes behind the set plays.

1. To determine how the defense will react. “We want to see how the defense will adjust to various formations: three-by-one sets, two-back sets, pro formations. Will they be consistent with what we saw on film, or will they make adjustments we have to adapt to as the play goes on.”

2. To test core plays. “We want to see early in the game what we’ll have more success with in terms of base plays. We have an idea going in as to which core plays will work. We want to run them early, so we can see the results.”

3. To get key players touches. “This year we have a special tailback, Darius Ashley. We want to make sure he gets the ball a minimum of five times. We want our skilled receiver to get the ball twice, our fullback twice and our skilled tight end once.”

4. To utilize pass plays (St. Xavier is primarily a running team). “This is less important, but we want to make sure we get a three-step play, a five-step play and a play action. Of course the play action will come after some of our core running plays.”

    Sometimes you have to adjust the script. “If everything goes as planned, that’s great. But if we’ve planned an isolation run for the third play, and it’s third and long, we’ll jump to a five-step,” Specht said. “If we succeed with a three-step followed by a counter, then we can run an isolation play. Down and distance may affect our script a little but, but we try to stay within those 10 plays.”

    What you’re really doing for the most part is setting yourself up to win the game in the final three quarters. “In the first quarter of a football game, it’s better not to get too caught up in what is happening. The last three quarters speak volumes above the first quarter. In the first quarter you see what adjustments you have to make. Knowing how the defense reacts to the scripted plays is huge for how you adjust in the next three quarters.”

    To some extent your script is determined by your personnel. In St. Xavier’s case it revolves largely around the tailback Ashley. “If he doesn’t touch the ball 26 times a game, we’re the dumbest staff in the world,” Specht said. “We want to get him in the flow as quickly as possible.”

    And what are the plays? “We’re a big zone team, so we need to look at the inside and outside zones,” Specht said. “We run a little isolation. The play action has to come off the isolation or the zone play. We run some off center, but that’s not a staple. Early in the series we want to go some to a one-back set. We want to see how they adjust when we use a tight end and when we don’t.”

    During the scripted plays St. Xavier coaches look carefully at the box. “Do they remove a linebacker from the box if you have a one-back set? That will speak volumes as to whether you run or throw the ball,” Specht said. Specht likes to begin the passing game with short routes. “You want to make sure the receiver will get the ball. I like three-step plays. You know the quarterback will throw to him, and it’s a safe route. That will get the quarterback into the flow of the game. I like a play action or three-step play to get the quarterback into the flow without too much reading. We can also use a screen pass to isolate our receiver.”

    If it looks like you’re going to have difficulty getting a pass to your favorite receiver early, you might script a running play for him instead. “If the receiver needs to touch the ball as a run, you might run a reverse or a stretch play,” Specht said. “It’s a matter of what the defense gives you each week.”

    The scripted plays St. Xavier uses to open the second half generally come from blocking adjustments. “This past week our opponent gave us a lot of different fronts. We had seen a 50 front on film, and then they stemmed to a lot of 40. We saw four different fronts that we hadn’t seen on film.”

    And how did St. Xavier react to open the second half? “We wanted to run isolation. A lot of times against a 50, we will double the center and chip to the backside linebacker and isolate the playside linebacker with the fullback. With all the different number of fronts and blitzes, we went to a 32 base. Instead of a double team, we wanted to see how we could do one-on-one. The center base blocked the noseguard. The playside guard, instead of doubling the noseguard, base blocked the playside linebacker.

    “The isolation lead was the same. The fullback still lined up on the playside linebacker, but would take the first opposing color jersey that showed. It’s all base blocking, but we wanted to see if we could run the ball just using a base scheme. We were able to do that, which helped us in how we ran for the rest of the second half.”

Kenny Edenfield
    “We’ve taken the Bill Belichick approach. We script, but not necessarily for the first six or 10 plays. We script situations – down and distance situations. That’s what we spend time practicing,” Edenfield said. “I’ve tried scripting the first 10 plays – when I was at Nicholls State University [Thibodaux, LA] in the early ‘90s. It was successful, but I never felt comfortable with it, because you had to go off the script when it didn’t work. This fits better.”

    Edenfield has his players practice plays that are scripted for first and 10 more than any others. “When you have second and medium (4-6 yard) it’s still the same plays as first and 10 for the most part. Say we’re throwing a tunnel screen. Maybe we don’t want to use a base alignment, but we want to use motion. That’s how we script it.”

    As for what kind of plays Edenfield scripts, “we pretty much run the entire offense,” he said. “We’re a spread team, but with multiple formations. It could be two tight ends and an empty backfield. It could be one tight end. It could be three receivers, or it could be four. The only time we change our thinking completely is inside the opponent’s three, when we will be in a jumbo set.”

    For running plays, Edenfield likes to go inside, and when he wants to go outside, he’ll use the option. “One of my favorites is an inside zone with an option out the back – a zone read play. The last few years we weren’t able to use it much because of our quarterbacks’ limitations. But it makes it difficult for the opponent to defend all aspects of the zone.”

    As for passes, “we like to throw quick – screens and drop back. Most spread teams are similar in that regard,” Edenfield said. “We like tunnel screens, outs, fades and slant bubbles. We like those quick passes so that the defensive linemen aren’t able to take over the ball game.”

    For third and extra-long situations (11 yards or more), Edenfield scripts two-three pass plays, one-two runs and a screen. “When the situation arises, we decide: do we want to run and be safe, or do we really need a first down, and we’re willing to take a chance [with a pass.]”

    Edenfield mentioned a trick play that he likes to put into the script. “We’ll run speed sweeps,” he said. “If we get a defense that supports real hard, making them difficult to block, we’ll run it with a running back throwing the ball. If they’re chasing you hard on a sweep, you might also run a reverse off of it.”

    Summing up his approach to scripting, Edenfield said, “a coach once told me there are two types of coaches – scientists and artists. We’re both. We plan based on down and distance, field position and how the game is going. That gives us flexibility about how we want to attack that situation.”

Tommy Condell
    In his college coaching, Condell would script the first 12 plays of the game – the “Dirty Dozen,” as he called them. Like Specht, he was largely testing to see what would work. “You see how the defense reacts and whether it’s a safe play. Maybe we wanted to run a reverse pass later on. We set it up with a play where we can see what’s happening on the backside end.”
Condell said that if he was facing a high pressure defense, “what I’d think about coming out is protecting the quarterback. We want to start the game on a positive note. So we go through the base plays, but provide more protection by elongating the edge, using a tight end.

    “He’s up there face-guarding the defensive ends. You can’t always give them just one tackle as a blocker. We’d show a two-man surface and then shift a tight end in his [the defensive end’s] face. He doesn’t know if we’ll crack him or if the tight end will stay in or release.

    “Sometimes it’s good to script exotic plays, like a double reverse, especially if you’re not the type that calls them later on.” For conservative coaches, scripting those trick plays reminds them to loosen the reigns once in a while and also gives them an element of surprise.

    If you are overmatched, you might want to consider plays with lateral movement, Condell said. “Don’t design plays with the quarterback in a five- or seven-step drop. Instead use their aggressiveness against them. You can run naked bootlegs and misdirection, even a reverse.”

    Usually if you’re overmatched, the biggest talent gap is in the line, Condell said. So lateral movement can negate that advantage. “Quick screens can do it. Move the pocket on misdirection and cut block early to slow the line down. Maybe do a crack reverse to secure the edge. And what we used to do is shift our formation or use motion quickly right before the snap to give them something different than what they’ve seen.”

    For the second half, Condell would script the first four plays based on what was most successful in the first half.

When Scripting Plays...

Condell on using video: “After we give the quarterback and offense the first 12 plays, we like to put a video together of cut-ups to verify the calls. The cut-ups are made up of what the defense will do. The quarterback would call out the plays with the videos. We’re trying to get the quarterback in rhythm. We’re trying to give him an idea of what he would see. The quarterback reads from a computer to see what the defense is doing and then reacts. For example, the quarterback may say, ‘I’m checking out of the play.’ In this way, the quarterback knows what’s coming. He sees the signals and formations.”

Specht on what kinds of plays to script: “I’m a firm believer that if you want to be successful, you have to have a philosophy and stick to it. If you’re a spread team, and you like to throw the ball around, then do it. It comes down to what is your offensive philosophy. As a running team we want to see how the defense adjusts to the run, and we look for the linebacker in the box. A passing team might want to see the coverage, and they will look for where the safety goes.”

Edenfield on scripted plays in the red zone: “We like some type of zone, power play. We want to pass off that and have speed options. We want to be able to attack the inside or the outside with power schemes and have options off that.”

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